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I wonder if you caught the public fooforaw involving Catholics, who like Protestants, do not all agree?
Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #151 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.
Catholic Church beliefs have been front and center recently, both traditional and progressive. Traditional came from Kansas City Chiefs football kicker Harrison Butker, who gave the commencement address at Benedictine College, May 11.
Butker is Catholic, the college is Catholic, he was invited to speak and got a standing ovation after his address, yet social media and the American Left has gone into meltdown mode.
Butker said, “Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.”
Regarding President Biden, Butker said, “Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the Sign of the Cross during a pro-abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I'm sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.”
“This is an important reminder that being Catholic alone doesn't cut it. These are the sorts of things we are told in polite society to not bring up. You know, the difficult and unpleasant things. But if we are going to be men and women for this time in history, we need to stop pretending that the ‘Church of Nice’ is a winning proposition. We must always speak and act in charity, but never mistake charity for cowardice.”
Butker noted, “The world around us says that we should keep our beliefs to ourselves whenever they go against the tyranny of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We fear speaking truth, because now, unfortunately, truth is in the minority.”
While media hasn’t notice, actually, Butker spent most of his speech talking about getting our own house in order, meaning the Catholic Church, and he chided bishops and priests for their too frequent shallow and cowardly values.
Then Butker dared to say something that just a generation ago virtually every American believed, but today you say it and you are a pariah, one who must be fired, cancelled, or condemned as a misogynist. Butker said, “it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.” [Applause lasting 18 seconds]
Now this is after he acknowledged many women will pursue successful careers. He did not denigrate this. He merely praised those women who consider being a wife and homemaker a holy vocation.
Then, “to the gentlemen here today,” he said, “Part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities. As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction, and chaos set in. This absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence we see all around the nation.”
“Be unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy.”
Finally, Butker noted, “a life without God is not a life at all, and the cost of salvation is worth more than any career.”
In various asides in his speech, Butker disagreed with “abortion rights, Pride Month, COVID-19 lockdowns and what he called ‘the tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion’ and he also rejected “dangerous gender ideologies.”
These are holy issues for the Left and why the reaction has been loud, over-the-top, and nasty.
But don’t miss this: Butker spewed no hate speech, leveled no insults, called no one names, evidenced no animosity…just disagreement with certain ideas and values. He simply shared his convictions, his free speech right, and still, mainstream media, from shallow celebrities to Taylor Swift fans to women TV anchors to the NFL, and even an order of nuns, people have reacted as if Butker committed heinous unpardonable sins – which is interesting in itself because most of those who are criticizing Butker probably don’t believe in sin or moral absolutes.
What they condemned, what a petition to get him fired from the Chiefs, which garnered more than 202,000 signatures, is that he dared to speak up for his conservative views. His speech has been described as dehumanizing, “sexist, homophobic, anti-trans, anti-abortion and racist.”
But ESPN NFL broadcaster, Samantha Ponder, called the petition to fire Butker “totally un-American.” She asked, “Is a Catholic espousing traditionally Catholic views to a Catholic audience really that shocking?” “Why can’t we just respectfully disagree?!”
Now I mentioned at the top of this podcast that the progressive side of the Catholic Church also made news recently. None other than Pope Francis sat down for an interview April 24, 2024 at the Vatican for “60 Minutes” with CBS’s Nora O’Donnell.
O’Donnell reference the Pope’s earlier comments about blessing same-sex couples. “She asked him how he would respond to ‘conservative bishops in the United States that oppose your new efforts to revisit teachings and traditions.’ In his reply, Pope Francis defined a conservative as the ‘suicidal attitude’ of ‘one who clings to something and does not want to see beyond that.’” To say this is a weak and biased definition of conservative is an understatement.
“O’Donnell also asked Pope Francis for his thoughts on the state of Texas’ efforts to shutter Annunciation House, a Catholic nonprofit sheltering migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. He said, ‘That is madness. Sheer madness. To close the border and leave them there, that is madness. The migrant has to be received. Thereafter you see how you are going to deal with him. Maybe you have to send him back, I don’t know, but each case ought to be considered humanely.’” Now the Pope did not say why a migrant “has to be received.” Nor did he say how many migrants are being received at Vatican City.
O’Donnell noted that global warming was among the factors driving the increase in immigration numbers (a scientifically unproven but oft-repeated political allegation). The pontiff said, “Unfortunately, we have gotten to a point of no return. It’s sad, but that’s what it is.” “Climate change at this moment is a road to death.” “He blamed wealthy countries in ‘great measure’ for the situation because of their economic strength and for having energy policies focused on fossil fuels.”
Here you must wonder. The Pope said we’re at a point of no return on the road to death. If this is true, he offered no solace, no way out. He did not mention the Sovereign God or for that matter anything from Scripture. He only made an anti-capitalist comment blaming wealthy countries, failing to acknowledge it is capitalism that has helped more people out of poverty and enabled more advances in quality of life than any other system.
Pope Francis drew accusations of heresy on social media…for his comments during the…interview about the human heart. The Pope said, “People are fundamentally good. We are all fundamentally good. Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good."
Responding to Norah O'Donnell's question regarding what gives him hope when he looks at the world, the pontiff said ‘everything,’ and then went on to list examples of people doing good things as evidence of humanity's essential goodness.”
Many criticized Pope Francis for his remarks, with some accusing him of failing to grasp the basic teaching of the Gospel. Scripture says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9).
Pope Francis offered classic theological liberalism, shared politically progressive talking points, did not point people to the Word or the Lord, and gave his audience no encouragement, means of reconciliation, or hope.
It’s a fascinating time when a professional football player shares views more consistent with Judeo-Christianity and Catholic understanding, more uplifting than the Pope of the Catholic Church.
Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com.
And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2024
*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers or https://twitter.com/RexMRogers.
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In this presidential election year, the public often looks at what a candidate says he believes, and this seems like a good thing to do, but did you know that historically the religion a president professes doesn’t seem to predict his behavior or success in office?
Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #146 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.
This is a presidential election year, and a raucous one at that, so perhaps we should pause at least once and think about whether the ultimately elected president’s religion even matters.
Let’s begin with the best. Abraham Lincoln is near universally considered the greatest president in American history. Many scholars also regard Lincoln as America’s greatest “civil theologian.” Lincoln remains the only president who used the name Jesus Christ rather than simply God in his public utterances. His Second Inaugural Address delivered March 4, 1865, stands as one of the most impressive theologically infused orations in American political history.
However, Christian historian Mark A. Noll said, “Considerable uncertainty arises…when Lincoln’s own religion is examined. On the one hand, it is obvious that Christianity exerted a profound influence on his life…On the other hand, Lincoln never joined a church nor ever made a clear profession of standard Christian beliefs. While he read the Bible in the White House, he was not in the habit of saying grace before meals…(yet) Lincoln's speeches and conversation revealed a spiritual perception far above the ordinary. It is one of the great ironies of the history of Christianity in America that the most profoundly religious analysis of the nation's deepest trauma came not from a clergyman or a theologian but from a politician who was self-taught in the ways of both God and humanity.”
Yet if Americans had looked simply to Lincoln’s record of church affiliation and public professions of spiritual rectitude, they never would have elected him.
So, does a president’s religion matter? Yes and No. Yes, if religion is defined as personal convictions, attitudes, behaviors, and character based upon theological understanding. No, if religion means denominational affiliation, spiritual posturing, a capacity for quoting Scripture or using its phrasing in slogans for political objectives—think Bill Clinton’s “New Covenant”—or even having the “right” view on litmus test political issues. In recent American decades the electorate and certainly the “Christian community” have focused more on the latter than the former.
Let’s look back at a few presidents. President Harry S. Truman was a gifted leader who made it to the White House on talent, hard work, common sense, and FDR’s untimely death. Truman’s presidency proved momentous, and his leadership is gaining respect as decades pass. He claimed to be a Baptist, but his penchant for cursing during radio addresses and his “Give ‘em hell, Harry” approach disillusioned many of his Christian supporters.
In 1960, pundits predicted Democrat JFK would never win the nomination much less the presidency because he was Catholic. Then Kennedy won the primary in heavily Protestant West Virginia by landslide. After that, not many people talked about whether a President Kennedy would be subservient to the Pope. As it turned out, Kennedy’s Catholicism was in little evidence during his presidency, while his sexual adventurism with Marilyn Monroe and others took more of his time, coming to light years after his assassination in 1963.
Following the unpopular and morally crude LBJ, a member of the Disciples of Christ, and an even more unpopular war, Republican Richard M. Nixon won the presidency on a second try in 1968.A Quaker, his presidency, reputation, and legacy bowed to resignation in 1974, the victim of his actions in the Watergate cover-up. The “law and order” President left office a lawbreaker.
In 1976, Democrat Jimmy Carter was embraced by Christians and appreciated for declaring himself “born again.” He taught Sunday School even as President. In the 2000s, Republican George W. Bushexperienced much the same, acceptance by Christians and appreciation for his saying “Jesus Christ” was his favorite political philosopher. There’s little doubt both Carter and Bush are genuine believers. Yet their political views are dramatically different, and both experienced degrees of rejection by Christians for what some consider ineffective presidencies.
During the 1980s, Ronald Reagan was regarded as deeply religious, but he rarely went to church. Reagan’s religious convictions and certainly his spiritual life are variously even contradictorily described by members of his own family.
During the 1990s William Clinton’s administration enjoyed a good economy and is remembered for positive accomplishment. But Baptist Clinton, who claims Christian faith and discusses religious matters knowledgeably, conducted a White House affair with Monica Lewinsky, then lied about it under oath.
Former president Barack Obama repeatedly said he is a Christian, yet some still express concerns about his religious heritage, i.e., his Muslim father and his education in Muslim schools.
Donald Trump has a record of no real church attendance, earlier lived a promiscuous life with multiple marriages, and said he never asked God for forgiveness because he didn’t know of anything for which he needed forgiveness. Yet while President, Mr. Trump held up the Bible in a photo-op in front of a Washington, D.C. church and he has consistently defended religious liberty.
President Joe Biden makes a show of being Catholic, crosses himself publicly, but some American bishops say he should be denied the Eucharist because of his views of reproductive rights. Biden promotes abortion on demand to birth, calls it a constitutional right, pushes this view on other nations of the world as a requirement to qualify for US foreign aid. He is also known for roaring temper, a filthy vocabulary, and questionable financial ethics.
Have you heard the expression, “Americans get the President they deserve”? What this means is that Presidents are often more a symptom than a cause. Yes, who they are is important and can influence the course of the nation’s future. But who elected them in the first place is what’s key.
For example, about 68% of Americans consider themselves Christians, but only 6% of Americans hold a biblical worldview. Less than half of those who self-identify as Christians actually “born again.” And when you look deeper at biblical worldview, well, beginning with older generations down to the youngest, biblical worldview understanding falls off a cliff:
65+ 8% have a biblical worldview.
50s-64 5%
30s-40s 3%
30-under, 1%
Christian social researcher, George Barna, says, “The biblical worldview is shuffling toward the edge of the cliff. As things stand today, biblical theism is much closer to extinction in America than it is to influencing the soul of the nation.”
If this is the population electing our presidents, is it then any wonder we get presidents who are not necessarily paragons of virtue?
The US has had effective Presidents whose religious inclinations were seemingly of little consequence in their lives. And we’ve had ineffective Presidents whose faith meant a great deal to them, as well as Presidents with glaring personal issues whose religious identity was promoted. It is, therefore, difficult to escape the conclusion that professed religion doesn’t predict much about political leaders’ actions.
So, what really matters in terms of a President’s spiritual quality? The same thing that matters for the rest of us—character, founded upon worthy values. Is the political leader honest, truthful, humble, respectful, gracious, trustworthy, diligent in work, and moral? This may sound like the political leader is running for Boy or Girl Scout. But give the Scouts credit, they figured out a long time ago what makes a person a better person, and leader.
Pay less attention to candidates’ religious identity and scripted photo-ops and more attention to the pattern of their lives.
Scripture reminds us—“In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him. A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.” Prov 21:1-3
“Righteousness,” we are told, “exalts a nation Prov 14:34, not only a president’s but more importantly our own, the people’s values, attitudes, and behaviors.
But either way, we should not worry, “for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is exalted” Ps 47:9.
Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com.
And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2024
*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers or https://twitter.com/RexMRogers.
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“The idea of a Christian America means different things to different people. Pollsters have found a wide circle of Americans who hold general God-and-country sentiments. But within that is a smaller…group who also check other boxes in surveys – such as that the U.S. Constitution was inspired by God and that the federal government should declare the U.S. a Christian nation, advocate Christian values or stop enforcing the separation of church and state.”
What Does the World Need Now?
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American culture is on a fast-track decline into confusion, contentiousness, and chaos. We see it every day on what passes for the news. So, what does the world need now?
Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #112 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.
I’ve spoken a lot about the sad, sorry, and potentially threatening state of American culture. I don’t like doing this because I am enough of a patriotic soul that I’d rather just celebrate the amber waves of grain and purple mountains majesty. But then again, people who truly care, about others or about their culture and country, should speak truth, offer “watch out” warnings, and as much as possible work to protect and preserve and perpetuate that which they love.
So, I must note that American culture is in moral chaos, which produces political and social polarization, rancor, and increasingly, scattered social unrest.
We don’t agree on anything, not even what constitutes a man or woman.
E pluribus unum? That’s out the window. And maybe worse, we’re perpetually offended and angry, even raging.
Remember Psalm 2, verse 1? “Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain?”
King David wondered aloud at how foolish, people, indeed entire nations, could be in the face of the reality, presence, and will of the Sovereign Creator God of the Universe.
At the end of that psalm, David said, “Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angryand your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Ps. 2:10-12).
Peace and safety are to be found only in Christ.
So today, in our beloved land of the free and home of the brave, we face challenges, seemingly intractable, seemingly unending.
I’ll illustrate only a few. Debt—national and personal—is a siren’s call luring the unaware into a crash upon the rocks. What makes debt especially threatening today is that we, American culture, have lost our fear of it. Politicians certainly do not care about debt. They talk a good game, but even so-called fiscal conservatives have run up the national debt in recent years. For politicians, there is no accountability. Debt is someone else’s future problem, not theirs.
Sexual liberation…well, not liberation, sexual libertinism, dominates our media, entertainment, marketing, sports, and politics. Are we better off for this than, say, we were in the 1990s? “Don’t ask. Don’t tell” seemed cliched at the time, kind of like “Just say No,” but now these aphorisms sound better than the 24-hour-in-your-face self-indulgence we get on social media.
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, abortion, on demand till birth, continues unabated in several states, and – I can’t believe I’m citing this – assisted suicide is being lobbied as a necessary state “service” for which people should have unrestricted access. This is already happening in Canada. Some people, and I agree with them, have been calling this trend a “culture of death,” since the previous leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II, called it this in 1995.
The list goes on. Illegal immigration, street-level lawlessness and government officials who celebrate the victimizer rather than the victim, the demise of objective journalism, rejection of Judeo-Christian values, like integrity and honesty, work ethic, individual responsibility and accountability, righteousness as the basis of justice.
So, what do we need to do in the face of this amoral tsunami?
In his new book, Divided Nation, Culture in Chaos & A Conflicted Church, Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham recommends a detailed and a tad longer list:
- Contend for the faith Jude 1:3. In other words, speak up, know what you believe and share it with others.
- Proclaim the gospel Mark 16:15
- Engage in business of King of Kings till he comes Luke 19:14
- Equip people with answers 1 Pet 3:15. “Always be prepared to give an answerto everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
- Call compromising people back to God’s Word Rev 3:16
- Help raise up godly generations to be salt and light Matt 5, Mark 9
- Be watchmen to warn people what is happening Ezekiel 33:6
- Act with boldness. Acts 28:31. When the Apostle Paul was in Rome of all places, the Scripture says, “He proclaimed the kingdom of Godand taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!”
So, a culture being torn apart by centrifugal forces, which is to say human choices based on incorrect, even sinful, worldviews and values, what that culture needs most is a mooring, a solid rock, a centering point.
This is what our American Judeo-Christian consensus used to provide, what scholars called a “sacred canopy,” and what had been lost when scholars began to refer to the “naked public square.” It was a moral philosophy, what we believed about God, humanity, right and wrong, and society. Didn’t mean everybody was Christian. It just meant that the society generally acknowledged that Judeo-Christian thought was the source of right understanding about life. This moral consensus allowed us to function as a unified society even as it allowed for diversity of opinion and life choices, i.e., individual liberty. That is what has been lost.
What we need now is not some new religion, some new science or technology, or new self-aggrandizement.
“What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love.”
Now, is this all we need?
If you mean what the songwriter meant, love unbothered by right and wrong, then No, this is not the answer. It is a shallow and vain hope.
It’s a lot like this:
“Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No Hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Aaa haa
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
Yoo hoo
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharin' all the world
Yoo hoo
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one.”
What the world needs now is not utopian imaginings that offer no remedy for the presence of sin and evil. What the world needs now is truth.
What the world needs now is what is has always needed,
“And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com.
And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2023
*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.
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Have you picked up on the divisive nature of public discourse in America in the past few years, and for that matter in the Church—maybe not your church, but certainly in the denominations? There’re reasons for this.
Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #96 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.
We know from Scripture that division and lying are two of Satan’s principle and most powerful tools for destroying the Church and the world.
Interestingly, “the word ‘devil,’ comes from the Greek word diabolos, which can be translated as, ‘to divide,’ ‘to separate,’ or more literally, ‘to throw against.’”
I used to agree more often with something the late Pope John Paul II said than I do Pope Francis, but when the current Pope Francis said this, I certainly agreed: “Divisions are a handy weapon that the devil uses to destroy the Church from within. He has two weapons, but the main one idivision …Please, fight against division, because it is one of the weapons that the devil uses to destroy the local Church and the universal Church.”
n Scripture, Jesus speaking to the Pharisees, said, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies,” John 8:44.
In both the Church and among the citizens of the United States of America, we are today an increasingly divided people. Historic church denominations including Episcopalian, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Reformed are losing thousands of member churches over profound doctrinal or political disagreements about race, gender and LGBTQ+, and other so-called “woke” ideology.
The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant group in the US, is battling over women pastors as well as experiencing pressure from some quarters regarding race, sexuality, climate change, and woke social justice priorities.
The American Catholic Church is also deeply divided about these issues, along with abortion, which is one reason Pope Francis offered his caveat about division.
Stepping away from the Church, we can think about American citizens, and guess what? We are also divided and dividing.
In “four areas critical to the survival and viability of the U.S. (and any nation) (we) are (deeply divided, deeply in trouble): economic, military, political, and moral-cultural.”
“Economically, the debt-based economy of the United States is now a house of cards.” Meanwhile, neither Republicans nor Democrats and certainly not Progressives are interested in economic policy that curtails debt.
“Militarily, while the United States is engaged in a proxy war with Russia through Ukraine, the unrestricted warfare against the U.S. by China is by far the greater threat.” Meanwhile, current military leadership talk more about woke ideology concerns for perceived white supremacy, promoting Pride, critical race theory training, and seminars on how to use the correct pronouns than they do military preparedness, not to mention continuing to attempt to justify our embarrassing, “hasty and reckless retreat from Afghanistan.” “No wonder there are now record shortfalls in recruiting new cadets to all branches of the military.”
“Politically, the United States is more divided than it has been at any time since the Civil War. The inability to reign in the aforementioned government deficit spending is a clear sign of a morally bankrupt politics. Equally destructive, but more malicious, are the political forces to weaponize our justice system and all the agencies of our federal government (and) deny Americans their First Amendment rights.” This includes colluding with Big Tech social media and “FBI attempts to silence parents pushing back against school boards imposing critical race theory and agendas to normalize homosexuality, gender confusion, and pornography with their children.”
Remember the opening comments about Satan? There are reasons for the division we’re now experiencing.
According to a recent report from Pew Research Center, as of 2020, Christianity was still the most practiced religion. However, it has declined 26% from the early 1990s.”
Let’s go deeper. According to Christian social researcher George Barna, for decades now the most consistent and reliable source of such information, “Seven out of 10 US adults call themselves ‘Christians’ and yet only 6 in 100 (6%) actually have a biblical worldview.
So, what do the rest of Americans believe?
Well, according to research from (Arizona Christian University’s) Cultural Research Center, there are “seven major worldviews that Americans are most influenced by: biblical theism, Eastern mysticism, Marxism, moralistic therapeutic deism, nihilism, postmodernism, and secular humanism.”
Barna said, “Most Americans blend their beliefs to create ‘a customized worldview.’” “In other words, the dominant worldview in America (and really the West) today is syncretism; a little of this and a little of that, blended into a worldview that’s custom-made by each person.
With such a worldview there’s no ultimate authority—‘truth’ is determined by whatever seems right to each person. And sadly, this isn’t unique to just those outside the church. Actually, Christians…hold to a form of syncretism when they blend millions of years and other evolutionary ideas into the book of Genesis. It’s really taking man’s pagan religion of our age that attempts to explain the universe without God (by natural processes) and meshing it with Scripture.”
“Barna (also) pointed to research that found only 2%—two percent—of US parents with children under the age of 13 have a biblical worldview!”
Overall, “while 51% of American adults said they have a ‘biblical worldview,’ only 6% of American adults actually hold this worldview.
Cultural Research Center revealed survey data compiled in January 2020 showed that 2% of Millennials hold a biblical worldview even though 61% identify as Christian.” Barna commented further, “As things stand today, biblical theism is much closer to extinction in America than it is to influencing the soul of the nation…young people, in particular, are largely isolated from biblical thought in our society and are the most aggressive at rejecting biblical principles in our culture.”
What makes all this more amazing and disheartening are the results of an American Bible Society survey conducted by Barna Research found that “in America, 85% of households own a Bible. Most families own more than one Bible, with a household average of 4.3 Bibles.”
So, we have the truth, but well, so what?
If Christianity is precipitously declining in American culture, and among those who consider themselves Christian, including Evangelicals, they do not really hold a biblical worldview, then we are left with an American citizenry that is woefully biblically illiterate.
In a practical everyday sense, Americans do not believe in accountability to God, do not believe in moral truth, and pretty much make up, meaning syncretize, their own religious views, most of which no longer align with Judeo-Christianity.
Americans being biblically illiterate makes us easy prey to woke ideology masquerading as new religion or any other falsehoods. This makes us easy prey to division, discord, and though I dislike saying it, destruction.
If as the Scripture says, “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17), and the Church is in such a mess in terms of its biblical worldview—and therefore our values—then what do we expect in the nation itself?
If the Church is accommodating to Satan’s lies and dividing, so will America.
Yet the prescription for this illness is a revival of and a recommitment to the transformative power of the Gospel, biblical Christianity, and a biblical worldview that influences culture. Through common grace God restrains sin, evil, misery, and wrath in this fallen world. He will bless not just the Church but the culture.
Personally, if a person acknowledges Christ as Savior and seeks to honor the Lord in life, he or she will be abundantly blessed.
Publicly, if a culture acknowledges God, truth, and morality, as America historically did, the culture’s laws, education, commerce and enterprise, arts will all be blessed, as will the nation’s potential for experiencing a bountiful free society.
Satan knows this. It is why he promotes lies and division, because the more we succumb to chaos, the more his minions and purposes can thwart the will of God in individuals lives and in society.
Christian believers, Christian citizens, should work to express purpose, righteousness, and hope in society. Of course, to do this we need to know whereof we speak. We need to understand biblical theology and a Christian worldview and how to apply them in everyday life. Our work to restore purpose reinforces e pluribus unum.
Not unity at any cost, not unity via accommodation to error, not suppressing truth to avoid hurting someone’s feelings.
Jesus met with publicans and sinners like Zacchaeus and the woman at the well. He loved them, but he told them the truth about their sin and His redemptive living water.
We must not grow weary in standing for truth.
Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com.
And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2023
*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.
Neutrality Is No Longer Possible
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- Written by: Rex M. Rogers
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2022
*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.